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Languages
With the disparate and spread out nature of the world’s population, it’s actually surprising how few languages there are in use. While regional dialects can sometimes seem like entirely different languages, most are descended from the same few linguistic roots dating back to the Time of Chaos, and thus languages with similar roots can sometimes be used to figure out what’s being said in each other. 'Common Languages:' When someone says that they speak a Common tongue, what they mean is that they speak one of these languages. 'Koine Astari (Common):' The most common of the trade languages, Koine devolved from High Astari long ago during the Age of Heroes. It is still used today as a common tongue among men, and thus any traveler usually learns it in short order. 'Nei-Soma (Elven):' A degenerate form of the old language of the Sheir-Nein-Char Elves, Nei-Soma is a lilting language that lends itself to poetry and music. It is relatively easy for speakers of most other Elven languages to understand it, and is much easier to learn, so is a favorite of traders, diplomats, travelers and adventurers. 'Vrask (Dwarven):' Actually an old Dwarven success story, Vrask was created to be a common tongue for all Dwarves to use when they met each other in trade, war, or just bumping into each other in the tunnels. Vrask became a second language to almost all Dwarves, and most trade with them is conducted in it. 'Alltalk (Gnomish):' In typical Gnome fashion, Alltalk began as a secret language a cabal of Gnomes were using in their attempt to usurp the throne of Gringlebond. The cabal’s members found the language so nifty they told other Gnomes about it, who told others, who told others, until the entire language (and the secret plans that were written in it) were common knowledge to Gnomes everywhere. Needless to say, that particular coup failed, but is recorded as one of the greatest Gnomish successes for creating a language they could all agree was awesome. 'Stranto (Halfling):' Halflings generally do not have languages of their own, instead either using another common tongue or taking up the local language exclusively. However, there is a racial Halfling language, Stranto, that they brought over from the old world of the Star Races, and is still remembered and taught among their people, especially among the nomadic families. While it has more of a ceremonial purpose than a practical one, speaking Stranto fluently is generally a sign of good favor with many Halfling communities. 'Chro-Grathaak (Orcish)' Before the Age of Heroes the Orcs had but one nation to call their own, Kul-Grathaar. The language of that nation was called Grathakett. Now, three thousand years later, that language has become a common Orcish touchstone as Chro-Grathaak. Most Orcish nations trade with each other using Chro-Grathaak, and travelers can be sure that using that language they will be understood. 'Draconic:' Perhaps the most interesting of the common tongues is Draconic. It hasn’t changed in the ten thousand years that the Star Races have been in the world, old writings and carven messages from that time confirm this. Draconic is the language of scholars, with most Arcanists learning it and many Religious authorities also studying it. Most adventurers will also learn this language, as every Dragon speaks it, and being able to converse with Dragons in their own language has often saved many a young adventurer’s hide. Draconic is the common language of Almestria and Dragonreach as a whole. 'Court Languages:' These languages are rarely spoken among common peoples, but are rather reserved for the doings of nobles and courts. The language is not dead, simply not used in common conversation among the people. 'Shu Heiton:' The language of the Gnomish court, this is the descendant of the original Gnomish language they brought with them when they came from the Stars. Spoken in: the courts of Gringlebond, Disaster Point, and Mechanicsburg. 'Sulic:' The language of the royal court of Sulin and most of the Deepland. Renowned as a very romantic language, owing to the idea that no matter what you say in it you sound like you’re trying to seduce someone. Spoken in: the courts of Chamessier, Sulin, Sacresal, Eos, Arice and the common language of Corsicis. 'Aeryssian:' The language of the Elven courts of Sheir-Nein-Char. Highly melodic, it tends towards long, flourished sentences and complex syntax. It often takes three times as long to express an idea in Aeryssian as it would in the common Nei-Soma. Spoken in: The courts of Merotheria, El-Shaloth, Sirath-Elal, Everwood and Avel-Missiria. The Common tongue of El-Aerys. 'High Astari:' The ancient language of the Astari Empire, Astari is now either a court or scholarly language. Arcane schools often hold their lectures in High Astari, and most of the oldest religious texts in the Church of the Goddesses are originally in this language. The Dragonborn use it exclusively for their personal and house matters. It is only spoken as a common tongue in one nation: Lincaeum. Spoken in: The courts of every nation in the region of Astaria. The courts of the Tri-Nation Confederacy. The courts of Stonehold, Tolbin, Avvar In-The-Sky, Irrix’Suul, Ur, Celestia, Malishorra, Elastis, Genasic. The Nation of Lincaeum. The Dragonborn Houses. 'Regional/National Languages:' These languages are specific to regions or nations, and are not considered common across the world. If no language is indicated for a particular nation, it is assumed they speak one of the common tongues depending on majority race (cosmopolitan nations with no indicated language always speak Koine Astari). 'Skaasdi: ' The language of the Barbarian Tribes, Skaasdi is an old, harsh language that can either be spoken or chanted. It is difficult to convey emotion in Skaasdi, but easy to sum up complex ideas in few words. Spoken in: Dalrayne, Herglund, Stowe and all of the Frozen Wastes. 'Trestish:' The language of the human settlements in Trestana, Trestish is known for heavy influence from both Skaasdi and Sulic. Spoken in: Comtrest, Taldrim, Makan, Karra, Comry and Venture. 'Gutter Gnome:' A street language from Gnomish cities brought to the status of official language, it is full of slang and strange references that no one remembers the origin of. Spoken in: Wigelnar, Asgoodasany, Bigger Disaster Point and Sweet Ground. 'Nih’Lotha:' The language of the Elven Woodlords, Nih’Lotha is one of the most mystical of languages still spoken. Known for its beauty and natural music, songs in Nih’Lotha are often the most requested performances from court bards. Spoken in: The Great Wood. 'Rurale:' The language of the common people in many cities in the Deepland. Similar to Sulic, but with a different syntax, Rurale is a nasal language, often spoken in a droning whine. Spoken in: the streets of Chamessier, Sulin, Sacresal, Eos and Arice. The common language of Falgia, Soldue and Obrem. 'Ukratz: ' A Dwarven language, often cited as the most poetic of the Dwarven languages. Used in many a long Saga to give the otherwise harsh prose a lyrical edge. Spoken in: Marsom, Glitterhelm. 'Vulkovyi:' A softer Dwarven language, spoken much more quietly than most Dwarven languages, with a greater emphasis on complex structures. Spoken in: Shattercore, Adamantia. 'Belvar:' When most people think of ‘Dwarven’, if they’re not thinking of Vrask they’re thinking of Belvar. It is a gutteral, loud language known outside its native areas mostly for how creative you can get while swearing in it. Spoken in: Lowgate, Takow, Dorda, Satig, Warhammer, Broken Shield, and Ember. 'Stravsk:' Also known as ‘surface Dwarven’, Stravsk is usually found in Dwarven communities that do not make their prime occupation mining. Spoken in: Lira, Sirath-Elal, Obsentis, Almes-Beira 'Fyarsk:' A language that is part spoken words, part bestial growls, snarls and barks, Fyarsk is the most common Shifter tongue. Spoken in: Dabuur, Shraus and the Region of Dissinia. 'Coelish:' An old language that has evolved over the long years, Coelish is a fairly common language in the southern reaches of Nordia. It is typified by rolling rhythms and expressive ululations. Spoken in: Halanen, Magar, Ensafaar and Teka. 'Asmaric:' Once the language of the Kimlashi empire, it has since fallen into disuse except in the two old seats of power of that once-great nation. Spoken in: Kimlash, Asmard. 'Lelliamei:' An Elven language noted for the easy way it translates into Koine Astari. A popular common language among Elves second only to Nei-Soma. Spoken in: Merotheria, Sirath-Elal, Avel-Missiria and Lossariss. 'Kaelish:' A language that has been influenced by many others, Kaelish has words and syntax that is almost but not quite recognizable by the majority of those who speak other languages. Spoken in: Port Storm, Alora Market, the streets of the Tri-Nation Confederacy and the Region of World’s End. 'Thranakett: ' A harsh Orcish language, Thranakett is spoken in deep tones with several different glottal syllables making it hard for native speakers of softer languages to speak it. Spoken in: Kul-Dopak, Kul-Mitrah, Kul-Pacht and Turak. 'Keyro-Chosaa:' A softer Orcish language, often described as flowing when compared to other languages like Thranakett or Chro-Grathaak. Spoken in: Kul-Taltus, Kul-Atal, Kul-Craagak. 'Sholan:' The old language of Tengyoku, the people of that region have resisted any alteration in their language since the Age of Heroes, though the result is that every nation has their own distinct and sometimes nearly unrecongnizable dialect. When written, the language is all but identical from nation to nation. Spoken in: The Region of Tengyoku. The nation of Satoll. 'Decavrian:' A language similar to Trestish. Spoken in: Port Nyus, Sycaria. 'Tual:' A language that was originally re-created from a pre-Great War civilization in the Tarentinnia Region, it caught on during the Age of Wonders and is now a common language for the area. Spoken in: Menobram, Olec, Totenis, Barassynia. 'Theran:' Theran is an evolved dialect based on Kaelish. It is partially recognizable to Kaelish-speakers but has its own qualities that take it closer to Dwarven Vrask. Spoken in: Zissen, Flat River, Tolbin. 'Avvarish:' While the court of Avvar In-The-Sky speaks High Astari, the common people speak their own language, for once just as complex and formal as the court language. This language has been spread all around the Sea of Spires nations. Spoken in: Avvar In-The-Sky, Port Raen, Kolbaria, Tau-Mis and Zennath. 'Helis Malanjia:' The language of Sazermishaan is strange in that it seems to have no linguistic precursor. During the Dissolution when the nations of Sazermishaan were founded, the language just seemed to spontaneously come to prominence. With most records lost during the Mage Wars that followed, the origins of this language may never be known. Spoken in: Ahlvren, Sanemarassia and Knightcross. 'Alahkra:' A language descended from Coelish, Alahkra was once a language of learning and academia, but is now limited to the far-flung communities of Finia. Spoken in: the court of Brandis Mondis. The nations of Occet Tavra and Gatherer’s Rest. 'Imis Tondellia:' Literally ‘the tongue of Tondellia’, Imis is a strong language that has changed very little over time. Spoken in: Hiris, Miranische, Barasinla and Bara Covett. 'Mystarian:' A language that evolved during the Second Mage War when Mystara was cut off from all contact with the outside world for nearly a century. When the Age of Wonders began the already heavily divergent dialect of Astari evolved into a truly separate language. Spoken in: Mystara. 'Traeoric:' An offshoot of High Astari, Traeoric is actually slowly dying in favor of Koine Astari, though it still remains an official language of several nations. Spoken in: Elastis, Celestia, Far Landing and Malishorra. 'Obrovin:' A mysterious language from the frozen heights of Sarell-Saa Dolorei. The Sages of Tash-Kallar speak only Obrovin, and the language has filtered down to the people of IceBane, from whence it came to be known in the rest of the world. Obrovin appears to be a dialect of Draconic, one with heavy influence from the ancient Elven Alutherian. Spoken in: Tash-Kallar. 'Monstrous Languages:' These languages are spoken by the various monstrous creatures that inhabit the world. As a general rule they are less complex than civilized tongues, and as such cannot convey some of the same level of detail or meaning. 'Giant:' An interesting exception to the general rule that Monstrous Languages are simpler than civilized ones. The proper Giant language is a rich, complex and subtle one, with poetry and grace to be found throughout. Many of the less intelligent Giants speak a degraded version of this language, making it sound dull and ugly, but spoken by one of the powerful, educated Giants of Storm or Cloud it is the match for any Elven poetics. Because of this Giant is often used as a common monstrous language when different kinds of intelligent monsters meet. 'Goblin: ' One of the most common of the Monstrous Languages, Goblin is a very primitive tongue that is easily learned. Not very expressive, it limits itself to mostly simple ideas and actions. It is made for utility, not for beauty, and it shows. Hobgoblins and Bugbears tend to speak a version of Goblin that allows for greater complexity, but retain a great deal of the utilitarian nature of the language. Goblin is also well known for how poorly it translates, even the most careful translation often ends up with the goblin-speaker sounding like a mentally-deficient child. For instance, Goblin often requires that one pluralize already plural nouns and pronouns, and lacks many of the tenses that other languages could not do without. 'Gnoll:' Gnoll is a language that is actually heard very little, if only because Gnolls do not talk before an attack. The language is one of growls and loud, high-pitched yips and barks, as well as sounds that come across as mad laughter to most humanoids. Gnoll is an instinctive language, meaning all Gnolls are born knowing it, and while they are capable of communicating in other tongues, many Gnolls prefer to use their simple, animal language instead. 'Ancient Languages:' These languages are older than the Star Races, perhaps older than the world itself. All of these languages have power in them, and can be used in magical invocations. No particular region uses them as a common tongue, they’re more the realm of scholars and Magi. 'Ancient Draconic:' The most powerful of the Ancient Tongues is the language often referred to as Ancient Draconic for its written similarity to common Draconic. The origin of this language is lost to all, if there even is an origin. Every syllable of this language, if spoken properly, has the power to shake the world. It has been theorized that this language was used to create the universe, but though the idea has poetic merit, there is no way to test it. Learning Ancient Draconic requires that one have a source to study, and that one spend five ranks of Linguistics learning nothing else (I.E. five levels spent putting points into linguistics with no other language being learned from them). Even then, this only allows a character to read Ancient Draconic in a halting, unsure manner, and speak it like a child, imperfectly. It requires the mighty magic of a Wish or Miracle to truly be able to speak and read the words of this powerful tongue. Due to this, only a few spend their time and resources on this mysterious language. 'Alutherian:' Much more accessible than Ancient Draconic, Alutherian, or Ancient Elven, was a language used by the Star Races on their old world, more than ten thousand years ago. Most of the few writings that survive from that time are in this language, and no living creature knows how to speak it properly, though many scholars learn enough to converse with. Learning Alutherian requires that one have a source to study, and that one spend two ranks of Linguistics learning nothing else. This allows one to both speak and read Alutherian, though a native speaker would find the pronunciation strange and the grammar stilted and extremely formal. Since there are no native speakers, this has never been an issue. 'Kharahkett:' Kharahkett is a language of the Orcish civilization that existed before the coming of the Star Races. It was not the common language of the people, but rather a language of worship used to commune with their god. When the Star Races came they brought with them new gods and the magic used to contact deities became more widespread, making the use of this secret language unnecessary and overly complicated. Many relics of the ancient Orcish civilization still bear writing in this sacred language, so it is often learned by Orcish scholars or those interested in archaeology. Learning Kharahkett requires that one have a source to study or a master who already knows the language, and that one spend two ranks of Linguistics learning nothing else. Enough examples of the language survive that this is enough to learn to read, write and speak Kharahkett fluently. 'Gae’Hyria (Druidic):' The only one of the Ancient Languages to still be spoken by what are essentially native speakers, Gae’Hyria is the language of the world itself. This language is passed on in secret among the Druids, they only teach it to those who are accepted into their fellowship, and the power of Nature can only be gained once one understands this strange, esoteric tongue. The secret power of this language is so strong that any Druid who teaches it to one not accepted by Nature is immediately stripped of their connection to it, and the power they had gained. Once this happens the language becomes dead for them, no longer able to speak to the earth and have it listen. In fact, they become unable to understand Gae’Hyria when spoken by a Druid, though they can still converse in it with others who have lost or never had that connection to Nature. Anyone they taught is similarly unable to tap into the true power of the words they have learned or understand it. Gae’Hyria cannot be learned without a teacher, not even with the power of a Wish or Miracle, and no force magical or mundane can compel someone who knows the language to teach it against their will. 'Planar Languages:' These languages are used on the Outer Planes, and also have some popularity among Clerics of the Goddesses and Wizards. Many adventurers seeking to enter the Blood War also learn these tongues in preparation. All of them are treated as normal languages for the purposes of learning to speak and read them unless otherwise noted. 'Celestial: ' The language of the Goddesses and their armies. Celestial is a musical language that has to literally be sung, based on tones and changes in pitch and volume rather than the more common syllabic constructs. A very versatile language, many complex concepts can be conveyed with a few quick notes in succession. This is often a problem for mortals learning the language as it is hard for them to not only hear the subtle shifts of sound that carry the meaning, but also parse the information that can be conveyed extremely quickly. Often when one is learning the language magic is used to augment the student’s abilities until they have the ‘ear’ for it. Even then speaking Celestial is hard for all but the most pure-voiced bards, and most mortals have to get by with imperfect grammar and relatively slow speech. It is always obvious when one is using magic to translate words into Celestial, as they sound mechanical and lifeless when compared to a true speaker. 'Infernal:' The language of the Devils of Hell, and the lingua franca for most of the Outer Planes. Infernal is a clipped, harsh-sounding syllabic language that is structured in a way that allows for no ambiguity of meaning. When someone says something in Infernal ideas are conveyed exactly, though this can sometimes lead to long sentences where a relatively simple idea is conveyed. This often leads to mortals learning the language easily, but mistakenly thinking that the ambiguities of their own native languages apply. This is the source for many tales of mortals making deals with Devils and finding to their horror that what they agreed to wasn’t what they thought it was. Devils, for their part, find the imprecision of other languages to be infuriatingly sloppy, and any use of their own language in an imprecise manner is sure to anger them. 'Abyssal:' The language of the Abyss is a language of emotion and intent. It is impossible to convey complex ideas through Abyssal, but by the same manner it is almost impossible to lie. If you don’t feel what you want to say, if you don’t mean it, then you simply cannot say it. To mortals, Abyssal sounds like growls, grunts, roars, hisses and howls all strung together in a strange bestial mish-mash. It is quite easy for mortals to reproduce these sounds, and fairly simply to learn how to use them to be understood in Abyssal. The difficulty lies in gaining the clear-cut pure intent that is necessary to actually speak the language. 'Sylvan:' The language of the Faerie and their shadow courts. Sylvan is a melodic language that depends as much on tone and pitch as it does on the specific syllables said. Rather difficult to learn for all but the most gifted students, Sylvan is still the planar language most likely to be spoken in the mortal world. All Fey, including Faeborn, know how to speak it instinctively, and with their relative abundance in the world, a native-speaking teacher is not very difficult to find. Sylvan tends to have several layers of meaning attached to every word, meanings that can change depending on factors that are not always apparent to mortal speakers. Despite this, many mortals can and do learn to speak the language as fluently as any native speaker, even if they do sometimes miss details. 'Aklo:' A strange language, Aklo is very similar to Sylvan, but with the ambiguity of meaning heightened greatly. It uses a very similar structure and syntax, enough so that listeners can confuse it for Sylvan if they aren’t familiar enough with either language. This language actually evolved from Sylvan among the Fey that were trapped on the Planes after the Great War. Having to fight against the rampaging Infernals without the aid of their Nobility saw those unfortunate Fey take on characteristics and habits that were very un-Faerie. The result is the strange, rare group of Fey known as the Exiles and their language, Aklo. In addition, many of the strange, otherworldly aberrations the Exiles created to fight the Infernals also speak their language. Aklo is as easy to learn as Sylvan, with the caveat that finding a teacher is much harder, and it is much, much easier to miss details. 'Aquan, Auran, Ignan, Terran:' The languages of the elements are fairly rare, even on the Planes. Mostly they’re only spoken on the Elemental Planes they originate from, and even then only in private, with Infernal providing the public language of trade and governance. These languages are all but impossible for a mortal to speak properly, though a mortal can learn to understand them easily enough. It’s simply that most mortals do not possess the necessary parts to speak the language. Aquan is a high-pitched singing whine going into ultrasonic frequencies; Auran is a language of wind and pressure and shrieking calls; Ignan sounds like the crackling, snapping roar of a large fire, and Terran is like stone grinding against stone, low to the point of feeling it rather than hearing it. A character who learns these languages cannot speak them without magical assistance, but they can understand them and read anything written in them. Category:World Information